Canyons of the Colorado

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Title: Canyons of the Colorado

Author: J. W. Powell

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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANYONS OF THE COLORADO ***

Produced by Eric Eldred, and David Widger

CANYONS OF THE COLORADO

BY J. W. POWELL, PH.D., LL.D.,

Formerly Director of the United States Geological Survey. Member of the National Academy of Sciences, etc., etc.

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS.

First published 1895

PREFACE.

On my return from the first exploration of the canyons of the Colorado, I found that our journey had been the theme of much newspaper writing. A story of disaster had been circulated, with many particulars of hardship and tragedy, so that it was currently believed throughout the United States that all the members of the party were lost save one. A good friend of mine had gathered a great number of obituary notices, and it was interesting and rather flattering to me to discover the high esteem in which I had been held by the people of the United States. In my supposed death I had attained to a glory which I fear my continued life has not fully vindicated.

The exploration was not made for adventure, but purely for scientific purposes, geographic and geologic, and I had no intention of writing an account of it, but only of recording the scientific results. Immediately on my return I was interviewed a number of times, and these interviews were published in the daily press; and here I supposed all interest in the exploration ended. But in 1874 the editors of Scribner's Monthly requested me to publish a popular account of the Colorado exploration in that journal. To this I acceded and prepared four short articles, which were elaborately illustrated from photographs in my possession.

In the same year--1874--at the instance of Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institution, I was called before an appropriations committee of the House of Representatives to explain certain estimates made by the Professor for funds to continue scientific work which had been in progress from the date of the original exploration. Mr. Garfield was chairman of the committee, and after listening to my

IV PREFACE.

account of the progress of the geographic and geologic work, he asked me why no history of the original exploration of the canyons had been published. I informed him that I had no interest in that work as an adventure, but was interested only in the scientific results, and that these results had in part been published and in part were in course of publication. Thereupon Mr. Garfield, in a pleasant manner, insisted that the history of the exploration should be published by the government, and that I must understand that my scientific work would be continued by additional appropriations only upon my promise that I would publish an account of the exploration. I made the promise, and the task was immediately undertaken.

My daily journal had been kept on long and narrow strips of brown paper, which were gathered into little volumes that were bound in sole leather in camp as they were completed. After some deliberation I decided to publish this journal, with only such emendations and corrections as its hasty writing in camp necessitated. It chanced that the journal was written in the present tense, so that the first account of my trip appeared in that tense. The journal thus published was not a lengthy paper, constituting but a part of a report entitled Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The other papers published with it relate to the geography, geology, and natural history of the country. And here again I supposed all account of the exploration ended. But from that time until the present I have received many letters urging that a popular account of the exploration and a description of that wonderful land should be published by me. This call has been voiced occasionally in the daily press and sometimes in the magazines, until at last I have concluded to publish a fuller account in popular form. In doing this I have revised and enlarged the original journal of exploration, and have added several new chapters descriptive of the region and of the people who inhabit it. Realizing the difficulty of painting in word colors a land so strange, so wonderful, and so vast in its features, in the weakness of my descriptive powers I have sought refuge in graphic illustration, and for this purpose have gathered from the magazines and from various scien-

PREFACE. V

tific reports an abundance of material. All of this illustrative material originated in my work, but it has already been used elsewhere.

Many years have passed since the exploration, and those who were boys with me in the enterprise are--ah, most of them are dead, and the living are gray with age. Their bronzed, hardy, brave faces come before me as they appeared in the vigor of life; their lithe but powerful forms seem to move around me; and the memory of the men and their heroic deeds, the men and their generous acts, overwhelms me with a joy that seems almost a grief, for it starts a fountain of tears. I was a maimed man; my right arm was gone; and these brave men, these good men, never forgot it. In every danger my safety was their first care, and in every waking hour some kind service was rendered me, and they transfigured my misfortune into a boon.

To you--J. C. Sumner, William H. Dunn, W. H. Powell, G. Y. Bradley, O. G. Howland, Seneca Howland, Prank Goodman, W. E. Hawkins, and Andrew Hall--my noble and generous companions, dead and alive, I dedicate this book.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Valley of the Colorado ..... 17

II. Mesas and, Buttes . . . . . . 39

III. Mountains and Plateaus ...... 67

IV. Cliffs and Terraces ....... 89

V. From Green River City to Flaming Gorge . . 117

VI. From Flaming Gorge to the Gate of Lodore . . . 133

VII. The Canyon of Lodore ...... 151

VIII. From Echo Park to the Mouth of the Uinta River . 167

IX. From the Mouth of the Uinta River to the Junction of the

Grand and Green . ...... 189

X. From the Junction of the Grand and Green to the Mouth

of the Little Colorado ...... 211

XI. From the Little Colorado to the Foot of the Grand Canyon 247

XII. The Rio Virgen and the Uinkaret Mountains . . 289

XIII. Over the River ....... 327

XIV. To Zuñi ......... 351

XV. The Grand Canyon ....... 379

Index .......... 399

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Portrait of the Author ....... Frontispiece [missing]

PAGE

The Colorado River ......... 16

Parunuweap Canyon ........ 18

Bird's-eye View of the Cliffs ....... 19

San Francisco Peak ........ 21

Cliff near Fort Wingate ........ 22

Scenery on the High Plateaus ...... 23

The Mogollon Escarpment ....... 25

Snow-clad Mountains on the River ..... 26

Our Messenger ......... 28

Apache Basket ......... 29

Our Messenger's Wife ........ 30

Ruins of Toyalone ........ 31

A Zuñí Court .......... 33

Adobe Church, Zuñi ........ 34

The Site of Moenkopi . . . . . . . . 36

Mountain of the Holy Cross ...... 38

Wingate Cliff .......... 40

Pyramid Butte near Fort Wingate ..... 41

Zuñi Cliffs .......... 42

Great Neck Nine Miles South of Salazar .... 43

Cinder Cone and Neck, Northeast of Grant Station . . 44

Two Large Necks, the More Distant One being the Cabazon 45

Neck Six Miles Northeast of Juantafoya ..... 46

A Group of Necks near Mount Taylor .... 47

Panorama from the Edge of Mount Taylor Mesa ... 48

Panorama in the Valley of the Puerco .... 50

Ruins at the Head of McElmo Canyon . . . . . 52

A Navajo Hogan ......... 53

An Ancient Coiled Vase from Tusayan ..... 54

A Typical Cliff Dwelling ....... 56

A Room in a Pueblo ........ 57

A Navajo Ready for a Journey ...... 58

A Navajo Boy .......... 59

Gardens of Zuñi ......... 60

A Tusayan Ladder ......... 61

A Zuñi Stool ......... 61

X CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

PAGE

A Tusayan Field Shelter ........ 62

Another Tusayan Field Shelter ...... 63

View of Hano, One of the Seven Pueblos of Tusayan . . 64

Mesa Verde . . . . ... . . between 64 and 65

Mount Moran, Teton Range, Wyoming ..... 66

Marble Basins, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park . 69

Terraced Basins, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park . 70

Tabernacle Crater and Lava Beds of the Basin Province . 73

View on Great Salt Lake Desert, showing Mountains half buried by Lake Sediments ........ 74

An Indian Hunter ......... 76

Reservoir Butte, showing Terraces of the Ancient Lake Bonneville Shorelines . . . . . . . . 77

Pavant Butte, over a Submarine Volcano of the Great Basin 78

An Indian Camp ......... 79

Indians Gambling ......... 80

Ruin near Moenkopi ........ 81

Ruins of Payupki, Six Miles Northwest of Mashongnavi, Tusayan 82

Shupaulovi .......... 85

General View of Zuñi, looking West ..... 86

The Gray Cliffs ......... 88

Section and Bird's-eye View of the Plateaus North of the Grand Canyon ......... 90

A Group of Stone Corrals ....... 91

Ruins ........... 92

Lagoon on the Kaibab ........ 95

Pink Cliffs, Paunsagunt Plateau ...... 96

A Permian Butte ......... 99

Vermilion Cliffs at Kanab ........ 100

A Midsummerday's Dream on the Colob .... 103

An Indian Village ......... 104

Antinaints, Putusiv, and Wichuts in Festal Dress . . 105

Perspective View of Typical Solitary House .... 106

Perspective View of Round-House Structure of Lava . . 107

An Ancient Cliff House ........ 108

A Zuñi Eagle Cage ........ 109

A View of Zuñi ......... 110

Walpi Dance Rock ........ 112

A Passageway in Walpi ........ 114

A Passageway in Mashongnavi ...... 115

The Hurricane Fault ..... between 114 and 115

Temples and Towers of the Rio Virgen . between 114 and 115

Towers of the Vermilion Cliffs .... between 114 and 115

Panorama ....... between 114 and 115

Terraced Houses in Zuñi ........ 116

The Start from Green River Station ..... 118

View in Sichumovi ......... 121

Trail up Walpi Mesa ........ 122

Ridges on Bitter Creek ........ 123

Mesas ........... 124

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XI

PAGE

A Valley West of Green River ...... 125

Alcove Lands ......... 126

Bad Lands . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Our Indian Guide ........ 128

Our Guide's Boy ......... 129

Green River Plains ........ 130

The Chief Kiva of Shupaulovi . . . . . . .131

Walpi ............ 132

Camp at Flaming Gorge . . . . . . . . 134

Mashongnavi, with Shupaulovi in the Distance . . . 135

Horseshoe Canyon ......... 136

Scene in Hano ......... 139

Pescado Pueblo, Outside Steps ....... 140

Oven near Pescado Pueblo ....... 141

Primitive Andiron in Shumopavi ...... 142

Tusayan Mealing-Stones ....... 143

Kiva and Stone Corrals of Mashongnavi ..... 144

Hogbacks with Intervening Valleys .... 146

An Ancient Pueblo Metate ....... 148

The Home of the Chief ....... 150

Gate of Lodore .......... 153

Wreck at Disaster Falls . . . . . . . 155

Metalliferous Veins exposed to View ..... 156

Winnie's Grotto, a Side Canyon ...... 159

Eroded Towers capped with Large Blocks of Sandstone . . 161

Fire in Camp ......... 162

An Isolated House at Zuñi ....... 164

An Oraibi Court ......... 166

The Rescue . . . . . . . . . .169

Echo Park .......... 170

Fragment of Wall, Zuñi ........ 171

Kivas of Shumopavi ........ 172

General View of Awatubi . . . . . . . .173

Swallow Cave . . . . . . . . . 175

View of Shumopavi . . . . . . . . .177

Ruins .......... 178, 179

Indian Lodge in the Uinta Valley ...... 181

Warrior and Bride ........ 183

Our Interpreter and His Family ...... 185

House Building at Oraibi ....... 186

General View of Ojo Caliente ....... 188

Sumner's Amphitheater ....... 190

Chimneys and Roofs, Zuñi ....... 193

A Tusayan Interior ........ 194

Lighthouse Rock, Canyon of Desolation ..... 197

Gunnison Butte, Gray Canyon ...... 199

Ruins of Ketchipauau ........ 201

Bird's-eye View of the Land of the Standing Rocks . . 202

The Butte of the Cross ........ 204

Land of the Standing Rocks . . . . . 205

Xll

CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

PAGE

Moenkopi .......... 207

Oraibi Houses .......... 208

The Heart of Marble Canyon ...... 210

A Lateral Canyon. ......... 213

A Tusayan Mealing Trough. ...... 215

The Heart of Cataract Canyon . . . . . .217

Water Basin in Gypsum Canyon ...... 219

The Water Pocket Canyon ....... 221

Plan of the Ruin of Kiu-Tiel, near Tusayau . . . 222

Pescado Houses .......... 225

Repairing Boats at the Mouth of Dirty Devil River . . 226

Ruins on the Brink of Glen Canyon ..... 228

Island Monument iu Glen Canyon ...... 231

Glen Canyon .......... 232

An Enclosing Wall of Upright Stones at Ojo Caliente . 235

Marble Canyon .......... 236

Noonday Rest in Marble Canyon ..... 239

View of Marble Canyon from Vermilion Cliffs . . . 240

Adobe Walls, Zuñi ........ 243

At the Mouth of the Little Colorado ..... 246

Walls of Gneiss ......... 249

Running a Rapid ......... 250

Head of the Grand Canyon ....... 252

The Inner Gorge ......... 254

Signal of Discovery or Alarm . . . . . . 257

Signal, Who are you? Answer, Pani . . . .258

Signal of Successful War Party ...... 261

A Signal of Peace ......... 262

Moki Method of Dressing the Hair ..... 265

Moki Method of Spinning ....... 266

An Alcove in the Red Wall ...... 269

Kanab Canyon, near the Junction ...... 270

Kanab Canyon in the Red Wall Limestone . . . 273

The Brink of the Inner Gorge ....... 275

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado, showing Amphitheater and Sculptured Buttes ........ 276

Climbing the Grand Canyon Wall ..... 279

Triangulation Station ........ 281

Cavate Houses ......... 283

Standing Rocks .......... 285

Mount Trumbull, from Mount Logan ..... 288

Mary's Veil, the Upper Fall on Pine Creek . . . .290

Filling's Cascade, the Lower Palls on Pine Creek . . 291

Aboriginal Ladder . ... . . . . . . 292

Another Style of Ladder ....... 293

Entrance to Parunuweap ........ 295

Towers on the Rio Virgen ....... 296

Mukuntuweap Canyon . . . . . . . . 298

The Witches' Water Pocket ....... 301

Wunavai Gathering Seeds ........ 302

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Xlll

PAGE

Terrace Fireplace and Chimney of Shumopavi . . . 305

A Sweat House .......... 306

An Interior Lodge ......... 309

Halved and Pinned Trapdoor Frame of Zuñí Kiva . . . 310

Wooden Pivot Hinges of a Zuñi Door .... 310

A Poultry House of Sichumovi resembling an Oven . . 312

The Human Pickle ........ 314

Recent Lava Flow on the Uinkaret . . . . . .317

A Zuñi Window glazed with Selenite ..... 318

A Zuñi Chair .......... 319

An Ancient Circular Doorway or Stone Close in Kin-Tiel 320

A Gaming Ring ......... 320

Interior View of a Tusayan Kiva ..... 322

Cave Lake in Kanab Canyon ....... 324

Ancient Pottery from Tusayan ...... 326

Tusayan Fetiches and Implements ...... 329

Dance Paraphernalia from Tusayan ..... 332

The Thousand Wells ........ 334

Terraced Houses in Oraibi showing Entrance to Kiva in Foreground ........... 335

The House of Talti, Chief of the Council in the Town of Oraibi 337

Praying for Rain ......... 339

Mashongnavi .......... 340

Tusayan Trays .......... 341

Tusayan Maskettes ........ 343

Sichumovi and Hano ........ 344

Walpi, a Village of Tusayan ...... 346

Tusayan Basketry ....... 330, 348, 349

Zuñi from Housetops, looking East ..... 350

Navajo Indian with Silver Ornaments ..... 352

Bringing down the Batten . . . . . 353

Navajo Church, near Fort Wingate ...... 354

Round Tower on a Rock ....... 355

Toyalone, from the Top of a House in Zuñi .... 356

Typical Terraced Communal Pueblo ..... 357

Dancer holding up the Great Plumed Arrow .... 358

Dancer swallowing the Great Plumed Arrow . . 359

Navajo Woman weaving a Belt ...... 360

Navajo Woman spinning ....... 361

A Room in a Zuñi House ....... 362

Ashtishkee, a Navajo Chief ....... 365

Navajo Medicine Lodge, viewed from the South . . . 366

Navajo Medicine Lodge, viewed from the East . . . 367

Navajo Fire Dance ......... 368

Workshop of Navajo Silversmith ...... 369

Zuñi Woman weaving a Belt ....... 370

Weaving of Diamond-shaped Diagonals .... 371

Zuñi Fetiches .......... 372

Effigy Pottery from Zuñi ....... 373

Zuñi Pottery .......... 374

XIV CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

PAGE

Zuñi Grails .......... 375

Culinary Pottery from Zuñí . . . . . . . 376

Navajo Fabrics ......... 377

The Grand Canyon ......... 378

A Gable with Pinnacles ....... 381

Niches or Panels in the Red Wall Limestone .... 382

Bounded Inward Curves and Projecting Cusps of the Walls 384

The Eastern Temple ......... 387

The Western Temple ........ 388

Granite Falls, Kaibab Division, Grand Canyon . . . 391

Dikes in the Canyon Wall ....... 392

Pinnacles of the Kaibab ........ 395

Vishnu's Temple ......... 396

Key to the Panorama from Point Sublime, looking East, between 396 and 397

Key to the Panorama from Point Sublime, looking West, between 396 and 397

Key to the Panorama from Point Sublime, looking South, between 396 and 397

Grand Canyon at the Foot of the Toroweap, looking East, between 396 and 397

The Great Unconformity at the Head of the Grand Canyon, between 396 and 397

THE COLORADO RIVER.

CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

CHAPTER I.

THE VALLEY OF THE COLORADO.

THE Colorado River is formed by the junction of the Grand and Green.

The Grand River has its source in the Rocky Mountains, five or six miles west of Long's Peak. A group of little alpine lakes, that receive their waters directly from perpetual snowbanks, discharge into a common reservoir known as Grand Lake, a beautiful sheet of water. Its quiet surface reflects towering cliffs and crags of granite on its eastern shore, and stately pines and firs stand on its western margin.

The Green River heads near Fremont's Peak, in the Wind River Mountains. This river, like the Grand, has its sources in alpine lakes fed by everlasting snows. Thousands of these little lakes, with deep, cold, emerald waters, are embosomed among the crags of the Rocky Mountains. These streams, born in the cold, gloomy solitudes of the upper mountain region, have a strange, eventful history as they pass down through gorges, tumbling in cascades and cataracts, until they reach the hot, arid plains of the Lower Colorado, where the waters that were so clear above empty as turbid floods into the Gulf of California.

The mouth of the Colorado is in latitude 31 degrees 53 minutes and longitude 115 degrees. The source of the Grand River is in latitude 40 degrees 17' and longitude 105 degrees 43' approximately. The source of the Green River is in latitude 43 degrees 15' and longitude 109 degrees 54' approximately.

The Green River is larger than the Grand and is the upper continuation of the Colorado. Including this river, the whole length of

18

CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

PA-RÚ-NU-WEAP CANYON.

the stream is about 2,000 miles. The region of country drained by the Colorado and its tributaries is about 800 miles in length and varies from 300 to 500 miles in width, containing about 300,000 square miles, an area larger than all the New England and Middle States with Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia added, or nearly as large as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri combined.

There are two distinct portions of the basin of the Colorado, a desert portion below and a plateau portion above. The lower third, or desert portion of the basin, is but little above the level of the sea, though here and there ranges of moun-

THE VALLEY OF THE COLORADO.

19

tains rise to an altitude of from 2,000 to 6,000 feet. This part of the valley is bounded on the northeast by a line of cliffs, which present a bold, often vertical step, hundreds or thousands of feet to the table-lands above. On the California side a vast desert stretches westward, past the head of the Gulf of California, nearly to the shore of the Pacific. Between the desert and the sea a narrow belt of valley, hill, and mountain of wonderful beauty is found. Over this coastal zone there falls a balm distilled from the great ocean, as gentle showers and refreshing dews bathe the land. When rains come the emerald hills laugh with delight as bourgeoning bloom is spread in the sunlight. When the rains have ceased all the verdure turns to gold. Then slowly the hills are brinded

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE CLIFFS.

until the rains come again, when verdure and bloom again peer through the tawny wreck of the last year's greenery. North of the Gulf of California the desert is known as Coahuila Valley, the most desolate region on the continent. At one time in the geologic history of this country the Gulf of California extended a long distance farther to the northwest, above the point where the Colorado River now enters it; but this stream brought its mud from the mountains and the hills above and poured it into the gulf and gradually erected a vast dam across it, until the waters above were separated from the waters below; then the Colorado cut a channel into the lower gulf. The upper waters, being cut off from the sea, gradually evaporated, and what is known as Coahuila Valley was the bottom of this ancient upper gulf,

20 CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

and thus the land is now below the level of the sea. Between Coahuila Valley and the river there are many low, ashen-gray mountains standing in short ranges. The rainfall is so little that no perennial streams are formed. When a great rain comes it washes the mountain sides and gathers on its way a deluge of sand, which it spreads over the plain below, for the streams do not carry the sediment to the sea. So the mountains are washed down and the valleys are filled. On the Arizona side of the river desert plains are interrupted by desert mountains. Far to the eastward the country rises until the Sierra Madre are reached in New Mexico, where these mountains divide the waters of the Colorado from the Rio Grande del Norte. Here in New Mexico the Gila River has its source. Some of its tributaries rise in the mountains to the south, in the territory belonging to the republic of Mexico, but the Gila gathers the greater part of its waters from a great plateau on the northeast. Its sources are everywhere in pine-clad mountains and plateaus, but all of the affluents quickly descend into the desert valley below, through which the Gila winds its way westward to the Colorado. In times of continued drought the bed of the Gila is dry, but the region is subject to great and violent storms, and floods roll down from the heights with marvelous precipitation, carrying devastation on their way. Where the Colorado River forms the boundary between California and Arizona it cuts through a number of volcanic rocks by black, yawning canyons. Between these canyons the river has a low but rather narrow flood plain, with cottonwood groves scattered here and there, and a chaparral of mesquite bearing beans and thorns. Four hundred miles above its mouth and more than two hundred miles above the Gila, the Colorado has a second tributary--Bill Williams' River it is called by excessive courtesy. It is but a muddy creek. Two hundred miles above this the Rio Virgen joins the Colorado. This river heads in the Markagunt Plateau and the Pine Valley Mountains of Utah. Its sources are 7,000 or 8,000 feet above the sea, but from the beautiful course of the upper region it soon drops into a great sandy valley below and becomes a river of flowing sand. At ordinary stages it is very wide but very shallow, rippling over the quicksands in tawny waves. On its way it cuts through the Beaver Mountains by a weird canyon. On either side grease-wood plains stretch far away, interrupted here and there by bad-land hills.

SAN FRANCISCO PEAK.

22

CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

The region of country lying on either side of the Colorado for six hundred miles of its course above the gulf, stretching to Coahuila Valley below on the west and to the highlands where the Gila heads on the east, is one of singular characteristics. The plains and valleys are low, arid, hot, and naked, and the volcanic mountains scattered here and there are lone and desolate. During the long months the sun pours its heat upon the rocks and sands, untempered by clouds above or forest shades beneath. The springs are so few in number that their names are household words in every Indian rancheria and every

CLIFF NEAR FORT WINGATE.

settler's home; and there are no brooks, no creeks, and no rivers but the trunk of the Colorado and the trunk of the Gila. The few plants are strangers to the dwellers in the temperate zone. On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns. The landscape of vegetal life is weird--no forests, no meadows, no green hills, no foliage, but clublike stems of plants armed with stilettos. Many of the plants bear gorgeous flowers. The birds are few, but often of rich plumage. Hooded rattlesnakes, horned toads, and lizards crawl in the dust and among the rocks. One of these lizards, the Gila monster, is

SCENERY ON THE HIGH PLATEAUS.

24 CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.

poisonous. Rarely antelopes are seen, but wolves, rabbits, and sundry ground squirrels abound.

The desert valley of the Colorado, which has been described as distinct from the plateau region above, is the home of many Indian tribes. Away up at the sources of the Gila, where the pines and cedars stand and where creeks and valleys are found, is a part of the Apache land. These tribes extend far south into the republic of Mexico. The Apaches are intruders in this country, having at some time, perhaps many centuries ago, migrated from British America. They speak an Athapascan language. The Apaches and Navajos are the American Bedouins. On their way from the far North they left several colonies in Washington, Oregon, and California. They came to the country on foot, but since the Spanish invasion they have become skilled horsemen. They are wily warriors and implacable enemies, feared by all other tribes. They are hunters, warriors, and priests, these professions not yet being differentiated. The cliffs of the region have many caves, in which these people perform their religious rites. The Sierra Madre formerly supported abundant game, and the little Sonora deer was common. Bears and mountain lions were once found in great numbers, and they put the courage and prowess of the Apaches to a severe test. Huge rattlesnakes are common, and the rattlesnake god is one of the deities of the tribes.

In the valley of the Gila and on its tributaries from the northeast are the Pimas, Maricopas, and Papagos. They are skilled agriculturists, cultivating lands by irrigation. In the same region many ruined villages are found. The dwellings of these towns in the valley were built chiefly of grout, and the fragments of the ancient